Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Dash for Dad

On Sunday, I ran in the first annual Dash for Dad, a 10K road race to benefit an organization working on prevention/cure for prostate cancer. My dad was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, and Sunday was his birthday, so I thought it a fitting birthday gift/tribute. The girls both got up early (like, 5:15 am - on a Sunday! What's with that?!?) so Ben and I packed them up and headed out. They had fun waiting for me while I ran, and were there to cheer me across the finish line. It's such an inspiration to have them there, and gives me a good reason to smile as I cross the finish line. Goodness knows, my finish time was not making me smile, but I ended up 5th out of 13 in my age group, and 46th out of 172 women over all. So, not a total loss and I had fun. I do love to race, you know? Rachel also seems to thrive on the race atmosphere, and Fiona and Ben are mostly just hoping it's over soon! Above right, I am waving at the girls as I cross the line, and below, the girls are waiting, waiting, waiting...

Friday after school, Rachel's friend Grace came over for a playdate and dinner. They had a great time, playing dress-up, and making a considerable amount of art. Here's something Rachel did.

On Saturday, we kept trying to get out of the house to do something fun (like Air & Space Museum again), but every time Ben got off the phone it was nap and/or meal time. How aggravating! For no one more than Ben, I must say. Anyway, we finally made our escape in the late afternoon, going down to the river to feed the ducks. Not very original, but fun nevertheless. We also played in the "sandbox," a beach volleyball court in the park.

Kiss me, girl!

Everyone knows Rachel is the kissiest, huggiest girl on the planet, but Fiona is getting in on the act now too. She has recently discovered the power of the kiss. And boy, is she wielding it! She is all over everyone with those lips, and those arms, and she is NOT always gentle about it. She gives kisses to everything that she likes: me, Rachel, Maggie (cat), Ben, airplanes in the sky, other kids on the street, the TV, yummy food, you name it. And speaking of TV, Fiona has also discovered Thomas the Train. When the TV is off, she points to it and says "doo doo" which is "choo choo" and really gets upset when she can't watch it. She also gets a big kick out of playing with the train table at playgroup. And she even made a "choo choo" out of her big Lego blocks. It's an obsession. Now all we need are some Thomas books and we'll be all set!Above, Fiona is watching Thomas the Train (lazy bones! I thought this was funny, because I am so used to Rachel's aerobic TV viewing habits), and at right is the "choo choo" she made yesterday. I should say that she did this with absoluetely no influence or help from me. It is a 100% original creation.